Small tokens of Love
by Lady Rafira
Summary: Second Cloti fanfic, about Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart. This stories shows how their relationship grows. How small tokens of love can have great meanings. Cloud may not be too good with words but actions speak louder than words and he learns how to use them on his lovely Tifa.
1. Chapter 1: First small Tokens of Love

Small Tokens of Love

Pairing: Cloud and Tifa

Timeline: About seven months after FFAC

Second Cloti Fanfic

It was a lazy Sunday and Tifa Lockheart was in her bar redecorating some of her newly bought furniture. She wanted to give her bar a little make-over. Since her best friend Cloud Strife wasn't always home, she decided to put the new furniture in his room for the time being. But just a few weeks ago he came home again and well, things happened. Cloud ended up sleeping in Tifa's room, as there was no other option left for him but to share a room with his best friend. Cloud stayed home more often now and he was working in the garage on his motorcycle Fenrir.

Tifa had invited Yuffie Kisaragi over to help her, so both girls were replacing the chairs, tables, and adding smaller things such as a vase with flowers, or small candles."Well I have to admit, we just did an amazing job!" Yuffie said smiling towards her good friend Tifa. Tifa nodded to her, "Yeah it looks so much better now." and she turned to the kitchen to get them both a drink. The new furniture looked more modern and colourful. The family / AVALANCHE booth corner was still pretty much the same, Tifa decided only to add some flowers to it. Yuffie went to the family booth and waited for Tifa to join her with the drinks.

"So how are you and Mr. Goldylocks doing?" Yuffie asked. and by Goldylocks she meant no other than Cloud of course. Tifa didn't quite know how to answer that question, she wasn't too keen on sharing any private information with her. "Oh, we are doing just fine." she replied. "Fine?... as in... both of you are alive, yet you two don't share a room yet?" Yuffie asked, she was quite curious.

Tifa briefly explained why she had put all of the new furniture into his room, without telling her too much. Then a small grin appeared on Yuffie's face. "So you two shared a room and nothing happened?" Tifa sighed, Yuffie became so annoyed when it came to this subject. "I'm sorry, but its none of your business, Yuffie."Yuffie decided not to ask any further, she might get kicked out of her bar if she did.

"Ok well I guess you're right." she said as she looked at her drink. They silently finished their drinks as Cloud came in. Tifa looked up right away, thinking she might have to help him with something. Cloud came to get a break, as he couldn't succeed in fixing Fenrir. He looked a bit annoyed about it but, when he saw Tifa he put up a small smile. "Hey there." he said as she was about to get up and get him something to drink. "No need to get up, I'll get something from the fridge." he said as he gestured her to sit down again.

He got himself a bottle of soda from the fridge, then he poured it in a glass. After that he went to his friends to accompany them. When he sat down, Yuffie told him all about what happened while she was in Wutai. During her story she became so excited about everything that she added all sorts of hand-gestures to her story. Then, during one particular moment she moved her right hand into the air, But before she defeated her air opponent, she forgot that Cloud's drink was in her way. She knocked it over, in Cloud's direction, leaving Cloud with soda all over his shirt.

"Damn Yuffie, watch it next time would you?!" He said as he got up annoyed since his drink had been spilled by Yuffie's stupid action. She immediately apologized, but it was no use. He was already on his way up the stairs to his room to get a new shirt. Tifa followed him. In his own room, Cloud pulled his shirt over his head, leaving him shirtless. "Yuffie can be quite stupid at times, but she didn't do it on purpose Cloud." Tifa said as she put a hand on his now bare back. Cloud turned to her, his slightly annoyed look beginning to fade. Tifa removed her hand, not quite sure how he would react. "I'm sorry," she said and lowered her gaze from his eyes. "Don't be." he said as he took her hand, and began to caress it with his thumb. "I would never blame you, and certainly not for her actions." he said as he also took her other hand in his. She couldn't help but blush a little at his actions. During these moments she thought he was really cute. They stared at each other for a while and smiled. They were quite happy with each other now that they knew each others feelings.

Tifa leaned over to him and planted a small kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss with a bit more passion, but she didn't mind. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss. Then they both heard Yuffie calling for them, so they broke away. Tifa sighed in annoyance, and she turned around to get back to her friend. "I'll leave you to change your shirt, otherwise she will most likely come up here too." and with that she left him in his room. Cloud sighed and put on a new shirt.

"I guess she is right." he thought and then he smiled as he thought back at the moment he kissed her. He began to love her more and more everyday. He loved to see her, but also to touch her, to embrace her and to kiss her. Her lips were so soft, as was her skin. He wanted more of her.


	2. Chapter 2: A Mind full of Love

Small Tokens of Love part II

Pairing: Cloud and Tifa (Cloti) but there is also familylove :)

Subjects: Family, love, homework

Timeline: About eight months after FFAC

Third Cloti Fanfic

"What a stupid assignment." Denzel thought to himself as he pushed the door open to Seventh Heaven, the bar he considers to be his home. He put down his schoolbag on a table nearby and looked around to see if he could find Tifa, only to find her in the living room stretched out on the couch. "She must have been taking a nap." he thinks and gently wakes her up.

Tifa opens her eyes drowsily waking from her peaceful slumber. "Heey Denzel" she greets him and gets up from the couch. "How was school?" she asks walking to the kitchen. She goes to get him a nice cup of tea, and a few chocolate cookies. Denzel sits down at the table, where he had just put his schoolbag and proceeds to tell Tifa about his school day. The usual things happened, Denzel barely thinks he learns something new. Then he tells Tifa about the assignment he was given.

"I have to think about what love is and what it means to me." he begins and Tifa listens carefully. "Once I have determined what love is, I have to transform my thoughts and feelings into an artwork, which can be a poem, drawing or painting, or a sculpture." Denzel gets the assignment from his schoolbag and shows it to her. Tifa quickly reads the description and smiles. "Oh that is a nice assignment I think." she nods as she returns the piece of paper to him. "Yeah well I think it's stupid, why do I have to think about it? I don't want to and I don't want to share it with the rest of my class." Denzel says and sighs deeply.

Tifa smiles tenderly, she knows why he doesn't want to fulfill this assignment, he isn't the popular kid in his class. He is a silent kid who in many ways refers to Cloud when he was his age. On the other hand, maybe this time he can show the others what he's made of. Tifa thinks to herself and tries to find a way to make the assignment a bit more appealing, but that proves to be hard. "Denzel, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about love?" she asks him. Denzel looks confused and replies "What do you mean?" Tifa gets up and gets him a piece of paper and tells him to get some crayons.

"Well lets make this a bit easier," she begins as she sits down with him again. "Write "love" in the middle of the paper, and draw a red circle shape around it." as Denzel begins to obey her as she explains to him that they are going to make a mindmap. "A mindmap helps to organize your thoughts and if you add images to it, it might help you to get things back in order." she explains to him. Denzel had never thought about making a mindmap before but he thinks it could be fun. "Now that we have our main object, just draw or write down whatever reminds you of love." Tifa says. He then starts to think about whatever reminds him of love, he thinks about how he looks up to his adoptive parents Cloud and Tifa. He is still grateful that they took him into their family. He thinks about Marlene, his little adoptive sister. Cloud, Tifa, and Marlene are three people he considers to be his family. "Can I write your names with it?" he asks Tifa and she smiles. "Of course you can! In fact I'd be very happy if you think of us that way." He then writes down their names and draws little cartoon figures of their faces. "Good job, now think of what it is that you love so much about us." Tifa says and watches him draw and write down several words.

With Cloud he adds words as "Strong," "Honest", and "Fatherfigure" He also draws his big sword with it, he loves that sword, and wishes he could one day wield it as well. With Tifa he adds words like "Loving," "Caring," "Motherfigure" and he draws smileys around it, thinking about all the special smiles she has given him. It made him feel at home and he always thought of her as a mother. Even though Cloud and Tifa aren't his real parents, he considers them to be his parents now. Denzel stops for a moment, thinking if maybe he should draw a line between Cloud and Tifa, he isn't quite sure if he should see them as lovers. He knows they care for each other and as weeks passed by he has noticed how they looked at each other. Cloud follows her every move with his eyes and Tifa always puts up a smile as soon as she sees him. He decides it would be best if he just asked her. Tifa isn't quite sure if she understands his question completely. "Um... are you asking if Cloud and I love each other?" she asks him. "Yeah, I mean I really don't need to hear about all the things you do together when we aren't with you," he says and puts up a disgusted feature on his face.

"Oh and by "things" you mean, the hugs and kisses we share?" Tifa states bluntly and laughs. Kids really know how to brighten up your life when they share their thoughts about subjects such as romance and love. Denzel's face turns crimson red and is left without words to answer. Then Cloud enters the bar and finds the two laughing and wonders what could be so funny. "Hey Denzel," Cloud says and walks up to them.

He notices the piece of paper and quickly spots the floating heads of Tifa, Marlene and himself. "Hi Cloud!" Denzel replies and gets up from his seat, quickly hiding his mindmap. He walks up to Cloud and hugs him. "Right so it's ok for you to hug him but when I hug him, you see something completely different in it?" Tifa asks with a sarcastic tone in her voice. Denzel isn't quite sure how to reply to that and looks at Cloud. Both men seem to be unsure how to answer that question but Cloud gestures Denzel not to say anything to that.

"That's a trick question, don't answer it," Cloud whispers to him silently and then he turns to Tifa. He gives her a small hug and walks to the kitchen to get something to eat. "Well I'm going to finish the mindmap upstairs in my room." Denzel says and with that he went to his room. He was happy not to have to answer that question and to see his favorite hero come home. He then starts to think about what he could add to Marlene. He cares for her like a brother. "Maybe I should add a Moogle. She loves Moogles and Barret of course, since he is her real father." Denzel thinks to himself and starts drawing Barret's face with it. He slowly adds the other members to his mindmap too, but they are a little more distant than Tifa, Cloud and Marlene since he doesn't see them as much as his adoptive family. He also adds "Seventh Heaven" to his mindmap since that is where he lives now.

Meanwhile Cloud and Tifa are in the kitchen, and they are talking about their day so far. Tifa is preparing dinner as he leans against the kitchen counter watching her movements. "Now that I think of Denzel's mind-map about love, are we a couple now?" Tifa asks him. She had that question in her mind for quite some time. They grew closer over the past few weeks and she wonders if Cloud still has the same feelings for her as she does for him. Cloud on the other hand is a bit struck by her question, why should he have to decide this, and he gets a bit insecure. "I... um..." he begins, "What do you think about it?" he counters the question back to her, hoping she can produce a suitable answer.

Tifa isn't easily tricked into his trap and she lets go of her knife which she used to chop the vegetables. She moves to him and puts a hand on his chest. She looks him in the eye and moves slowly to his lips. Cloud expects her to kiss him but right before she would do so, she asks him "Do you love me?". "Damn, what's with her and these direct questions? I'm not that good with words, she knows that." he thinks to himself and with that he thinks it would be better to not answer her question with words. Instead he bents forward to her and presses his lips firmly against hers. A quick kiss might do the trick. She seems to be satisfied with that and looks at him. "I guess your answer means "yes" or am I wrong?" she asks rhetorically and smiles to him. He moves closer towards her and puts his hands on her body, drawing her closer to him, and brings his face closer to her. He then gives her another kiss a bit more passionate than the smaller one and it produces the desired effect. When they break away Tifa gasps for air and Cloud smiles content.

He then notices that Denzel had come down the stairs and noticed the whole thing. "That was disgusting!" Denzel says and looks at them with a look that says it all.

Tifa is a bit shocked to see that he saw the whole thing and they didn't notice. Then again they were quite busy with each other, it will most likely happen again. Cloud laughs at the young man's comment and walks into the bar, leaving Tifa to take care of this. He sits down at the familybooth where Tifa and Denzel sat

before he came in.

"Oh I take it this is what you mean by the "things" we mentioned earlier," she says and continues to preparing their dinner. Denzel gets himself a drink from the fridge and looks at Tifa. "Yeah, I know now where to draw the line in my mindmap, but please don't do that during the daytime. If Marlene sees it she won't shut up about it." he turns around and walks to Cloud where he gives Denzel a high five, smiling at their little victory which left Tifa without a steady reply. Denzel goes to his room and quickly finishes his mindmap

and then shows it to Cloud. He explains what love means to him and what he loves about the three main characters of his mindmap.

Somehow the assignment wasn't so bad after all, and maybe Denzel would have fun creating a piece of artwork after all.


	3. Chapter 3: Small tokens grow bigger

Small Tokens of Love part III

Pairing: Cloud and Tifa (Cloti)

Subjects: Love, Fluffyness all over

Timeline: About nine months after FFAC

Fourth Cloti Fanfic

"Damn rain, does it ever stop?!" Tifa thought to herself as she closed the doors of the last shop she visited for her errands. She quickly runs to her car to bring the errands home, and to assist Yuffie in running the bar. She puts the bags on the passenger's seat of the car and turns the key in the ignition. The rain is pouring down hard and somehow the car won't start. "Oh not now!" Tifa says turning the keys in the ignition with no luck at all. She sighs heavily and leans back in her chair. "I can't walk all the way home, since I'm on the other side of town, and by the time I get home, I'll be soaked..." she thinks to herself and then looks at her phone.

"Maybe Clouds home..." she picks up her phone and calls him.

Cloud is indeed home, he sits at the counter of the bar as he hears his phone ringing. He checks the caller-ID and that puts a smile on his face. He answers his phone. "Hey Tifa," and she replies with "Hey Cloud, are you home by any chance?" She quickly explains that her car won't start and that she is stuck. "Can you pick me up?" she asks him and waits for a reply. "Yeah sure, where are you?" he asks and gets the directions where he can pick her up. "Oh and can you bring Denzel's backpack? Then I can put the errands in it." she gives him one last message and then they both hang up.

Cloud gets up from the barstool and goes to find Denzel's backpack. He finds the owner of it in the living room playing a videogame with Marlene. "Denzel, I'm gonna have to use your bag, Tifa's stuck I'm going to pick her up." he says as he gets the bag from a small table nearby the TV. Denzel gives him a short reply "Ok!" since he is too busy playing the game. Cloud smiles to himself, and turns around and gets the keys to Fenrir. He gets the keys and puts on a warm coat since the rain is still pouring down and it's pretty cold outside. He walks to the exit and tells Yuffie his plans. "Right! Just bring the two of you home safely, the weather is to horrible to be outside!" she says and he nods, then closes the door behind him.

It only takes him a short while to find her in her car parked close to the street with all sorts of stores. He parks Fenrir next to the car and she gets out to give him a fast hug. "I'm so glad you're home, thanks for picking me up." She says and gives him a smile. Despite the fact that its cold and rainy that smiles warms him and Cloud gently presses a kiss on her lips, which causes her to blush. "Don't even think I'd let you stand out here in the cold." he replies and gets the errands from her to put them in the backpack. Tifa locks her car and puts the car keys in a small pocket in her coat. After that she takes the bag from him and puts it on her back. Cloud gets on Fenrir and waits for her to take the seat behind him. "Hold on a bit tighter, its quite cold tonight." he tells her and she scoots closer to him. Then she wraps her arms around him and they drive home.

Once they get home, both of them are almost completely soaked but at least they're home so they can change into warmer clothes. They enter the bar and notice how Yuffie's got it all under control. There are a lot of guests in the bar, Cloud didn't think there were that many before he left. Maybe Yuffie could be a good bartender, just as she is a fighter. Tifa puts the errands in the kitchen and Cloud goes upstairs to the bathroom to grab a towel to dry himself. "Oh my you two are soaking wet!" Yuffie shouts and bursts out laughing as she watches her friend stacking the newly bought food supplies in the cabinet.

"Yeah I know, my car wouldn't start, and I was on the other side of town." Tifa explains, as she ignores her friend who just can't stop laughing at her. "I'll give Barret a call in the morning, maybe he can fix my car." She says and turns around to Yuffie. "Hah! As if he can even fix anything," she laughs and that's when Tifa grows pretty much tired of the mocking tone in her voice. "Well I see you got it all under control here, then I'll go upstairs and take a shower and change clothes." Without waiting for her reply she goes to her room to get some new clothes from her closet and then heads towards the bathroom.

In the bathroom she finds a shirtless Cloud. At first she is a bit shocked, even though they are more than friends now, she isn't always sure how to act around him at these kind of moments. She looks at the sight, which can be called quite amusing. As of lately she begins to notice how well built his body is, not that she didn't see that before, its just it makes it more special to know that she has access to touch him. With that pleasing thought she moves towards him. She puts her hand on his chest, drawing a slow line on his wraps his arms around her and draws her close to him. He looks at her with his longing eyes. He narrows his eyes and gives her a soft kiss on her lips.

Before she allows herself to get lost in such a small token of love she breaks the kiss. "Oh I... I'm sorry," she begins to explain as she moves away from him and grabs a towel to dry her face and hair. That wasn't really her plan, since she wanted to take a shower. Yet she didn't expect to find Cloud there and she sees the towelas something to hold onto for the time being. She doesn't know how to behave around him during thesemoments, afraid to make a wrong move. Cloud isn't quite sure what to think of this, and asks her "Did I hurt you or something?" and looks a little worried. She turns to him and shakes her head. "Oh no, that's not it, I enjoyed it. When you kiss me... it just feels good. It feels really good Cloud." she pauses for a moment and she takes the towel away from her face to look him in the eye. "But I don't think I can stop myself from wanting more of that." That causes him to smile, so he didn't seem to hurt her and the fact that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, was a good thing. He presses a soft kiss on her forehead and gives her a small hug. "Well if you want more of "that" I'll be in the bedroom so you know where to find me." and leaves her so she can refresh herself and change her clothes.

Cloud goes to the living room first to find the two children hanging to each other on the couch. Both of them fell asleep when they played videogames. Cloud turns off the TV and gameconsole. He brings the kids to their beds and tucks them into it. Meanwhile in the bar most of the guests have left and Yuffie has started cleaning up. Once Tifa has finished showering she goes to Yuffie to help her out. She thinks the little girl had punishment enough for now and decided to call it a truce. While she escorts the last remaining guests outside she thinks about Cloud's last comment which causes her to blush again.

"Why are you blushing like that?" Yuffie asks as she is quite curious about what happened to the original bartender while she was upstairs. "What? Oh no reason!" Tifa replies and goes to clean the tables. "Right... did you get another sweet and passionated kiss from Mr. Goldylocks?" Yuffie asks rhetorically and gives her a sarcastic look. She has notices how the two of them grew closer together. Yet both of them keep their romantic moments to themselves, she hasn't seen the two of them kissing, but Denzel told her that he found them a little while ago. But he didn't want to share details with her because he already found it disgusting enough.

Tifa ignores Yuffie's last question and starts to put the bar stools on the bar. She gets the mop from the back of the kitchen and quickly cleans the floor. She likes to keep her bar nice and clean, and she doesn't like having alcohol spilled on the floor. Yuffie finds Tifa amazing in that aspect, no matter how busy her day was, she always makes sure everything is clean by the end of the night.

When everything is clean, Yuffie wishes her goodnight and goes up to the guestroom. Tifa and Cloud decided to share a room together as long as Yuffie's around to help out. Then Tifa turns out the lights of the bar and goes to her room, where she finds Cloud stretched out on the bed. She smiles to herself, slowly she is getting used to finding a shirtless Cloud now. She closes the door and makes sure its locked, so no unwanted guests like small dark haired ninja girls, can disturb her.

She takes off her shoes and socks, careful not to wake the blond prince. She slowly moves up to him as she goes to sit astride him. No matter how silent her efforts are, it wakes him up none the less. He opens his blue eyes and meets her ruby brown ones. "I decided I wanted more of "that" so I came to see you," she says and she bends forward to give him a small kiss. He puts his hands on her hips and returns her kiss. He gets up and gives her a pleading look. He wants to feel more of her, but he isn't quite sure if he deserves her and that makes him feel a little nervous. Yet when she kisses him so passionately, lust overtakes his thoughts. He moves his hands up to her shirt and tugs on it, as if he asks her for permission.

That permission is soon granted and he pulls her shirt over her head and drops it on the floor. Tifa gets off and takes off her pants, leaving her in her underwear. Cloud also takes of his pants and returns to his lover. Both of them continue their kissing and fall safely on the bed. Tifa lies underneath Cloud and puts her hands on his body, exploring all of it, as she enjoys his hands on her body.

Pretty soon they get rid of their clothes and they lay closely together in the bed. Cloud looks at her and asks her if she is really sure about this. He doesn't want to hurt her, and with his eyes he asks her for permission. She giggles at the sight and gives him a small kiss. "I'm sure you'll be gentle with me, right?" she asks him, even though she knows he can never truly hurt her, he isn't the man with that sort of intentions. "I only want to do this, if you are completely sure about this." and with that he removes a small lock of hair from her face. She nods to him and small blush appears on her cheeks again, like it never really left her. "Only with you," she whispers almost silently and moves to him to capture his lips just like she did before. Their kissing becomes more passionate, as their tongues slowly touch. It turns them both on, and they continue to explore each other with their hands.

Cloud slowly moves over her and almost as if their bodies know what will happen next they connect with each other. All the while Cloud makes sure that he doesn't hurt her. She reassures him and allows him to continue. Slowly yet passionately they make love. Making sure each moment counts. Both couldn't be happier at the time and after the passionate encounter, both lay exhausted next to each other. Not feeling the need to put their clothes back on they remain snuggled up. Tifa lays her head on his chest and draws his arm around her, giving him the feeling that she gave herself to him entirely. He smiles to her and strokes her head, feeling the soft long dark hair, and he presses a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks for being gentle with me." she says and nuzzles against him, feeling the warmth of his body. He nods and pulls the blanket over them. "You're welcome, thank you too." he says and turns off the light on his nightstand. Their small tokens of love grow bigger every day, and he doesn't think he could be any happier than this. Then both of them drift off in a peaceful slumber.


End file.
